Category Archives: Shamanism

Shamanic healing is one of the vast numbers of healing modalities available for us to experience today. Like acupuncture, its roots are in the mists of time and like acupuncture it works with unseen energy. Acupuncture is usually associated with the East, while there have been shamanic healers for thousands of years in tribal communities all around the world.

Is this something that can help me with today’s problems?

There are also many contemporary practitioners of this ancient healing art.
Traditionally a shaman was someone who was able to communicate with the spirits and visit other realities with their own spirit allies. This is still the case in modern shamanism.

How does it work ?

A shamanic practitioner will use a drum or rattle to access an altered state of consciousness. In this altered state she is able to enter the lower world, the middle world or the upper world which are the unseen other realities. Here in the other worlds she journeys with her power animal and helpers to ask for healing for whoever has requested her services.

What does a shamanic healer see as the cause of life’s difficulties and challenges?

Shamanic healing is about energy, and typically the shamanic practitioner sees lack of health and well being on any level as being about loss of energy in some form.

Can you explain more about Soul Loss?

Trauma, stress, abuse and serious accident at any time in one’s life can result in loss of life force, vital energy or essence which is known as ‘soul loss’.

In order to survive seriously challenging situations a soul part leaves the individual and takes refuge in one of the other worlds, taking with it some of the life force. It does this to assist overall survival.

However, it often results in depression, apathy, inability to move on after a loss or death or problems with the immune system. It is the job of the shamanic healer to track down this soul part in the other worlds, to offer it healing and reassurance and to invite it to return and bring back its positive qualities.

This is known as ‘soul retrieval’

And what about Power Loss?

Another issue addressed by the modern day shamanic healer is that of ‘power loss.’

Power loss is widespread and may be caused by confrontation, exams ill health, unrelenting problems, lack of community support, erosion of self- esteem, stressful family circumstances or manipulative relationships. Without our inherent vitality and connection to the cosmic web we become dis-empowered, dejected and dispirited. The shamanic solution is for the healer to journey to the lower world to retrieve the individual’s power animal. Power then returns along with the ability to approach life more confidently and deal with the challenges it presents.

The ancient practice of shamanic healing is alive and well and is very useful for an individual who recognizes any of the symptoms referred to. It can support therapy or counseling when it feels as if an impasse has been reached. It is also useful for a personal development coach to have a shamanic practitioner on their referral list as a individually tailored shamanic sessions to retrieve soul parts and/or a power animal will give the individual more energy and incentive to design and work towards life goals.

Evolving GenerationsBreaking Family Cycles

It is easy to believe that in leaving our childhood homes and embarking upon the journey of adulthood, we have effectively removed ourselves from harmful and self-perpetuating familial patterns. In looking closely at ourselves, however, we may discover that our behaviours and beliefs are still those that were impressed upon us during our youth by our parents, grandparents, and the generations that preceded them.

We may find ourselves unconsciously perpetuating cycles of the previous generations, such as fear of not having enough, not showing affection, and secrecy patterns. Yet the transmission of negative patterns from one generation to the next is not inevitable. It is possible to become the endpoint at which negative family cycles that have thrived for generations are exhausted and can exert their influence no longer.

Breaking the pattern is a matter of overcoming those values imprinted upon us long ago in order to replace them with pure love, tolerance, and conscious awareness.

Even if you have struggled with the cumulative effects of family cycles that were an expression of established ways of living and a reflection of the strife your ancestors were forced to endure, you can still liberate yourself from the effects of your family history. The will to divest yourself of old, dark forms of familial energy and carry forth a new loving energy may come in the form of an epiphany. You may one day simply realize that certain aspects of your early life have negatively affected your health, happiness, and ability to evolve as an individual. Or you may find that in order to transcend long-standing patterns of limiting beliefs, irrational behavior, and emotional stiltedness, you have to question your values and earnestly examine how your family has impacted your personality. Only when you understand how family cycles have influenced you can you gain freedom from those cycles.

To truly change, you must give yourself permission to change. Breaking family patterns is not an act of defiance or betrayal. It is important that you trust yourself implicitly when determining the behaviors and beliefs that will help you overwrite the generation-based cyclical value system that limited your individual potential. Many people are on the earth at this time to break family cycles, for all of you are true pioneers. In breaking negative family cycles, you will discover that your ability to express your feelings and needs grows and that you will embark upon a journey toward greater well-being that can positively impact generations to come.

Shamanic healing is one way to address this.

“The deeds of an ancestor can create family karma that continues to influence the fate of the family’s descendants until the karma is dissolved.”

The Path of a Dragon-Shaman is a spiritual path that is not to be taken lightly. It is one of deep introspection and can often be unnerving and quite scary. It is a path that can know great joy or sorrow and pain. It is a path of finding the True Self that does not compromise from the Universal Truth, that is the Nature of the Divine and the Divine Nature.

Many who follow much of the New Age thinking or proclaim themselves to be “Neo-Pagans” ( IE: The modern “Pagan Community” ) often miss the vital clues about the spiritual reality, and that traveling such a spiritual path demands that they honestly look into themselves. They fail to see themselves for who and what they really are. To many, such experiences are scary and the truth becomes a horrifying sight to them. Dragon-Spirituality often demands our attention and our integrity in facing those things about ourselves in a true light. It is not a path for the insincere at heart.

“Gnothi sauton.” (“ Know thyself. “)

To give account of what it means to be Dragon, I would like to present a brief synopsis on some characteristics and aspects that define what is and is of the Dragon. First, a Dragon, as a spiritual being, knows itself from a deep, spiritual understanding. It knows that the base foundation of its great power begins with truly knowing its Self ( not from the egotistical perspective of “know itself”, which we would know of as narcissism ). It knows that its Spiritual Self is a creature of the Divine, and created in the total image of the Divine Creator. ( This encompasses the Mental, Emotional, the “Heart Spirit”, and the Ætheric planar bodies. ) The physical existence is not being considered right now because it has an ephemeral ( temporary ) nature ( a mortal existence – it will die ). Similarly, the Ego is mortal and knows that it will eventually die. The Dragon comes to know that it is not the Ego that defines the Being, but the spiritual with the emotional aspects that ultimately define the Being. This is what can be expressed as the “Universal Truth”.

“ Wisdom is Power, Knowledge is the tool of power. “

So now, we come to the heart of what the Dragon Symbolism means, in its deepest sense: Knowledge as the tool, and Wisdom as the means to best apply those “tools” with forethought and insight. I view the Dragon as the synthesis of Divine Awareness, and the Consciousness that knows no bounds nor limits. If you were to say “God” as the figurehead or symbolism of the most expansive and limitless of possibilities, I would say THAT equally applies to the aspect of the Dragon. Whether or not the imagery matches what we have been given ( which is often made up and probably quite inaccurate anyway ) through our histories, mythologies, legends, and lore, matters not when it comes to the ultimate realization that the Dragon is the essence of all things. It is more than just an “energy” or idea or thought, it is ALL thoughts, ideas, and encompasses ALL things, material, ætheric, spiritual, mental, and more.

To realize the Dragon-Consciousness, one must be ready to put away all prejudgments and preordained thinking about what Dragons and their mystique truly are. If one is already on a Shamanic Path, one is already on his way to self-realization and the opening of the Inner Eye(s) to ALL of the realities. This physical reality is only but one of the manifested realities to existence. It is often referred to as the “ordinary reality” or “mundane reality”. The other realities that one may encounter on his journey, are often referred to as “NON-ordinary realities”. They are the “extensions” of our Higher Selves, and the “parallel planes” of our state of Being. Once one comes to the realization of these other non-ordinary realities, he begins to truly grasp the depth, width, and limitlessness of the Creation(s) and existence, in general. This “expansion of consciousness” can be very startling and even very scary to the new traveler. This is one of the best reasons to have a guide before the neophytes sets out on a journey of the Mind.

“ The Dragon and the Serpent, are they the same? “

The modality that is probably the least understood, is the Serpent, in all its glory. To many, the Dragon and the Serpent ( as in “The Great Serpent”, or even “Kundalini” from Buddhist and Hindu traditions ) are considered one and the same. This is very close to as accurate as one can get. However, The Serpent represents the “flow” of energies, and the “cycles” that are ever-moving, ever-flowing. The Serpent knows that energy, cycles, etc. must always be moving, and must always be flowing, just as moving water does more work and has great er effect than stagnant water. The Hermetic Teachings also state, from the Seven Hermetic Principles, that “everything is in motion. Nothing remains still.” In order for the Creation(s) to exist, its/their energies ( from the very make-up of their Being, etc. ) that must continue to move, vibrate, cycle, flow, etc., else, the Creation and all manifested things can not Be! Just as stagnating water begins to fester and spoil, so does energy if it is confined and not allowed to flow freely. Stagnating energies become the “disease” within Being. If one’s heart were to cease beating, then he would very quickly die. The same goes for the Serpentine Energies that manifest throughout the Creation and all existence. The Serpent knows this, because the Serpent is present in every form or fashion of the flowing energies, because it IS the flow of those energies!

The “Dragon”, as an archetype, and an idea, is central to many of the ancient spiritual beliefs. The Serpent is also recognized be many of early man’s contemporaries even to this day by surviving belief-systems of today. Whereas, the Serpent has been recognized as the “flow” and the “cycles” in action, the Dragon would be considered the “presence”, or “state of I AM” – in other-words, the present moment. The Dragon-Consciousness is the total awareness of the “here and now” as expressed by its own state-of-Being. Its reality is primarily focused on the “here and now”, but not limited to it, but rather fully aware of the ideas of “past” and “future” are but reflections and reverberations of the now. At this level of conscious, there is no “past”, and there is no “future”, because they are the same as the “here and now” though expressed as reflections of it. It is in this state of Being that “time”, “space”, and “dimension” are meaningless and immaterial. They simply have no concept in this level of existence, just as the spacing between atoms and molecules is meaningless to most of us. A fish may have its own realizations, when it finally surfaces to see the world beyond what it knows, for it only knew beforehand, its own “familiar” existence in the water. The fish had no concept of what realities lay beyond its own level of existence. The Dragon sees things in all possibilities, and all reflections, because it is BEYOND the level of existence we, ourselves, were aware of. So, those first “footsteps” into one or more of the “non-ordinary realities” often become very frightening to the novice traveler. Such fears are common, and rational at first. The Dragon’s “vision” can be our helping hand in those times of need.

“ How is Dragon-Shamanism and traditional Shamanism any different? “

“Traditional Shamanism” mainly works with the Earth’s energies and Earth Spirits. Much of it ( though not all traditions ) is very Geo-Centric, in that it deals more with the expression of Nature’s Powers here on Earth. The “Traditional” aspect is very hard to nail down because there are many differing traditions depending where in the world, and which culture you meet, when referring to a specific tradition. The Siberian Tuvan’s traditions in Shamanism may differ greatly from African or Australian Aboriginal traditions. The famed Voodoo and/or Hoodoo differ in some respects from Santeria, Stregheria, etc., but they are still forms and traditions of Shamanism. Most traditions of Witchcraft, both the old and the new forms, incorporate much of Shamanism, often from many different “traditions”, to define their own traditions. They are still incorporating Shamanism into their practices. Dragon-Shamanism is not so different here in that it also incorporates methods, rituals and rites, and other aspects from different traditions. This is not where I define any difference with other expressions and traditions of Shamanism.

As previously mentioned, most commonly-associated traditions of Shamanism are very Geo-centric, or Earth-centered spirituality. They define their practices and traditions based on their work with Earth-Energies and their associated Spirit-Guides, Totems, etc. ( most of which we may recognize as “animal-spirits” ). Dragon-Shamanism, on the other hand, is not limited, by any means, to Earth-centric thinking and spirituality. It is very much all-inclusive, and centers its course of spirituality and thinking to the depths of the whole Cosmos, and everything within AND without. It is expressive of what some may call “Astro-Shamanism”. The story, “Pharmacratic Inquisition”, is a great place to begin one’s studies into the realm of Astro-Shamanism. I highly recommend it for all who are seriously interested in beginning a voyage of this likeness! Anyway, the Dragon figures very prominently into Astro-Shamanism because it is in the “Heavens” where we are first introduced to the Dragon as a super-archetype. In the very center of our twelve Zodiac signs, lies the “Crooked Serpent” ( as some fundamentalists disparage him as ) or as some may call it “Theli” ( from the Kabbalah ), Leviathan ( from Semitic legend and biblical texts ), and its official name: “Draco”. It is from these perspectives that we were introduced to the “Celestial Dragon”, or Serpent ( like the Norse: “Midgardsormr” ) which become a major part of much of our ancient spiritual beliefs and religions. So, our spiritual journey could start there as so many before us did.

“ The Dragon and the Serpent as the most recognized symbol to mankind. “

Of all the great mythological creatures to ever appear in much of early man’s writings, stelae, and his mythologies, the Dragon has the most enduring and everlasting place in man’s day-to-day life and in his preoccupations. The Dragon is recognized across the world in virtually all cultures, in one form or another. The Dragon is easily one of the oldest archetypes and spiritually-significant symbol throughout human history. Some cultures pay the dearest respect and reverence to the Dragon(s) as the early Chinese, Japanese, and other Orient cultures did. Other cultures fear and even “hate” the Dragon as a harbinger of doom and destruction, which is most common with the Western cultures. Whether for good, or for ill, the Dragon is a solid, recognized feature of man’s cultural and spiritual ethic that dates far back to virtually unrecorded history. It is a lasting symbol and very recognizable to most parts of the world.

The times of today are beginning to see a change in perspectives towards spirituality and life in general. Many of the dated stereotypes that were propagated by the establishment churches and their doctrines, are showing signs of wear and deterioration in their credibility. This is largely because they often do not answer, to the seekers’ satisfaction, the unanswered questions of life, or – their explanations, often handed off as “answers”, are limited in scope and understanding. Many of the present-day dogmas are beginning to lose their luster and nuances as people are craving more genuine answers from the personal, actual experiences of those questioned. A priesthood that for so long was vaunted to be the “pillars of societal values and morals” by “men of the cloth”, are starting to fissure and crumble in the wake of this awakening and “quest” of those who seek the greater truths. These “churches”, and the systems of governance they have built up, have relied so heavily on the followership not asking these types of questions and demanding real answers. Under such an inflexible administration, the systems built upon the people’s ignorance and unfailing devotion to dogma is beginning to feel the stresses of the changing times, and of the changing hearts and minds of the people. Such systems are destined to be relegated to the scrap heap of “past history”.

One of the main reasons why today’s expression of “Paganism” has gained such an increasing following, is that they offer the promise of a “new way”. That is, a new way of thinking, a new way of believing, and a new way of seeing the world. This nuance of “forbidden knowledge” has a certain attractive quality that draws people from all walks of life away from the establish churches, and into their circles and covens. This expresses that there is a dire need for fresh answers, often lacking from the predominant doctrines, in today’s world.

“ The Dragon also represents change. “

Many of the churches of today are decrying, now ever louder, the shrinking of their membership and attendance due to “Satanic” or “Luciferian” influences ( their claims, not mine ). The real question, then, is why is this? Why do these churches who have held sway over the Western cultures for many centuries, only now fear that their fate are sealed? Some believe the internet and its wide open forum for discussion and debate are largely to blame. Healthy debate and access to the most unbiased information as possible usually will spell the end of the grip of systems of control. Political control of the world’s peoples is also challenged by a free and open internet. This could be characterized as the “rising of the Dragon”, by means of the social changes taking place. This is fitting for a description of only one of the aspects of the Dragon, “Change”.

When one begins his tour of the realm of Dragons, the deeper he goes, the more he must be willing to change, or bend to adapt with the changes. The ancient Dragon mythologies held that the Dragon was one could instigate changes, whether the slow and steady kind, or of the catastrophic kind, changes were often associated with a “Dragonic element” or power. Some of the early texts on Dragons give the impression that the Dragon represented “Chaos”; The uncontrolled or uncontrollable forces of Nature. This gave rise to many legends where the Dragon was either a participant in or the lead cause of storms, tidal waves and tsunamis, and probably droughts and sandstorms. The Egyptian Apophis ( or “Apep” ) was considered the reason for the darkening of the Sun and Moon, and was supposedly sent by Seth, the dark God of destruction, confusion, and chaos. The Babylonian Azhi Dahaka ( or “Azhi Dahaki” ) was considered the beast, sent by Ahriman, who makes the winters colder and the summers hotter and drier. The Ancient Greek monster, Typhon, was said to cause the storms at sea ( as to a possible reason how Typhoons get their names ). In the Americas ( namely the Southern Pacific Islands ), Huracan was viewed as a storm-causing creature ( probably Dragon-like ), possibly the reason we have called these storms “Hurricanes”. In each of these examples, it is illustrated that change can often be preceded by one or more destructive acts.

The same way we, ourselves, may need to remove obstacles in our own lives, this may be necessitated by change. The Dragon, as a symbol, is very fitting as the symbol for changes, even if through what seems like a destructive act ( but not truly destructive in this sense ). There is the symbolism, also of the Serpent, of cycles in action. The cycles being that of: birth, growth, life, and then death – before a “rebirth” is possible. The Dragon and the Serpent were recognized as important symbols in the early cultures when considering their relationships to the powers of Nature. Nature is very creative, and equally destructive in its tendencies. This creation-destruction cycle is necessary as it follows the “cycles” in accordance to the Natural Laws.